Is it a National Indigenous Art Centre that is being …

Is it a National Indigenous Art Centre that is being called for – or more broadly an Indigenous Cultural Centre?
The more we can all learn and share (and I speak as a local) the more we all benefit.

Recent Comments by Mandy Webb

The power of ‘we’Regarding the Strehlow Centre, and the importance of maintaining it, I think the presentation by Adam McFie, Mark Inkamala and Shaun Angeles was really crucial.
The Collection (objects, maps, diaries, photographs, sound recordings etc) is very much alive, and of continuing significance to many local Aranda. The work being done includes engaging with the relevant traditional owners for cultural mapping projects and a repatriation program. (Google Earth has been found to be a very valuable modern resource for instant recognition of country).
It was really good to hear about the positive effects, social and emotional included, that regaining this cultural knowledge is having for those Aranda people. Others at the conference also commented on the use of the Strehlow recordings, notes, film etc to jog people’s memories, and the positive outcomes.
The Strehlow Centre is NOT a museum. It is doing many other things not mentioned here, but suffice to say, it is alive and needs to be kept that way!

Never ending story: Desert Mob 2013Fantastic article Kieran. It’s always interesting to read your reports and insights.
I do agree about the need for a bit more info re the story being told in the paintings in Desert Mob.
Often the title on the wall label is in language with no indication of what it means.
Maybe a translation would not help much in appreciating the work – but sometimes it might!

Cool heads consider global warming“We need advancement into clean energy,” says Steve Brown. Yes indeed – and the big players in the oil industry have been saying this for a while.
“By 2030, energy demand could be 60% higher than today and by 2050 more than double, as the population grows and developing countries expand their economies. Meeting this demand and avoiding the environmental threat posed by climate change is a serious energy and sustainability challenge. Energy technology and use will have to evolve. The foundations for change have to be laid now and urgently.”
Who put out this statement? Shell.
The year? 2004.
(The Shell Report: “Meeting the energy challenge – our progress in contributing to sustainable development”)
And the other long-term planners, the insurance industry’s re-insurers:
“If climate change accelerates and we fail to adapt to it in time, we will suffer losses in terms of safety and prosperity. The individual can make only a limited contribution to climate policy since this is primarily a task for governments. Who is affected by climate change? In a word, everyone.”
(Bruno Porro, Chief Risk Officer, Swiss Re, Zurich)
The quotes above are not from people who got to their position because they were stupid, but because they were intelligent and could look ahead. Notice how they don’t question that climate change is occurring, nor that we must take steps to combat it.

Cool heads consider global warmingI just don’t know what it would take to convince skeptics like Steve Brown that the effect of pumping vast quantities of heat and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is not good.
Yes, our weather in Central Australia is naturally very variable. Yes, plants need rain and carbon dioxide but unfortunately the outcomes of global warming are not nice and gentle. More frequent wild weather? Tick the boxes: Massive flooding (Bangkok), lethal droughts (E. Africa), warmest autumn on record (Moscow), snow storms (N America) – that’s just in the last few weeks. The effects of wilder weather are very varied, from coastal erosion, increase in shipping accidents, damage to crops and property etc. Just ask the insurance companies – they are the ones who first warned of the problem of global warming decades ago.
Do we not have a responsibility to think of those who are already suffering from the many adverse effects of climate change right now, let alone the next generation? Who really thinks that global warming is going to help endangered species? Who really thinks that virtually all the scientists are idiots or conspirators? Who really thinks it’s okay to burn more and more fossil fuels?